Sitters can cite their locations as they see fit, for their purposes.
Hosts might not like that, but it’s not in their control. They can simply reject applications.
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You seem to have gotten a very clear answer that this is normal practice for sitters.
We also are travelling sitters, we put our location of where we want to be sitting next. It’s almost never where we are right now because that is irrelevant, we wouldn’t have applied to a sit if we didn’t think it was possible for us to travel there and complete it.
Seems odd to limit your pool of sitters so severely. Majority of sitters won’t be local otherwise they will just charge for sitting.
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May I ask why? Are people from other continents untrustworthy? Incompetent? It seems like a somewhat arbitrary rule to have, and I find it a bit troubling that you “ask where they originally come from”.
I would hate to be denied a sit that seems perfect for me just because I happen to be born in the wrong place. Couldn’t you make the decision based on someone’s individual qualities rather than an assumption based on their origin?
Also “The country I live in is probably pretty desirable for certain countries and regions of the world.” - yeah, keep them pesky foreigners out of our country.
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Yep, us too! My absolutely most dreaded question is the flippant: “so, where are you from?”
Born and grew up in country A. Citizen of country B, resident of country C. Digital nomad in many other countries…
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@Coclico it is not a trend or unusual for a sitter to set their location to a country that is different from their home country. For example, I’m an American traveling fulltime whenever I arrive in a new country I set my location to that particular country. I apply for sits in my current country, countries that I will visit or interested in visiting. I’ve never had any concerns from a pet parent as a result.
You can explicitly state in your listing that only local applicants residing full time in “enter location” will be considered.
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And us @cawosey and @botvot #alltheaboveapply - honestly these sitters that wander the globe 
exploring new places, living abroad and not staying in their home of birth, don’t they just cause trouble 
#itsagypsylifeforme 
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It’s a regular and accepted practice, not at all underhanded but what sitters need to do to get sits in places they want. We have made some terrific friends of home owners we’ve sat for on international sits. So don’t discount “non local” sitters you might just miss out on the world’s greatest sitter or a new friend!
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I think it’s not ok to put as a sitter a location where you would like to go, this is really troubling.
What is THS thinking about this?
If you are a full time sitter you put the actual location and if not, you just put your home location. This is very simple.
As a HO I want sitters who are nearby to evitate any long distance complications. There is nothing to discuss about this. Sitters are wasting my time when they let me think they are in the same country. I think this is absolutely not a transparent manner to communicate and I really would like to know if this is not against the guidelines of trusted house sitters.
Who is saying this? Where is this written?
This may be quite convenient for you sitters and may be a trick to pretend you are in the country. The meaning of location is which is the place where you are and not which is the place where you would like to be somewhere in the future.
This is disleading homeowners who would like to have sitters nearby there home. And I won’t explain why I would like sitters nearby my home. It’s just a fact.
Not as simple as you think.
The whole point if being a full time sitter is the fact that you don’t have a home location!
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Who is saying this? Many sitters are saying this! If you read our profile we make it very clear that we are Australian but are currently in the UK seeking UK sits. You then have the choice to choose us, or not.
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Discussion is what the forum is for, I think.
Anyway, my profile now says that I am in Bath. Where I will be in June. I will travel to the UK next month and be there for a while. And it is clear that I live in Sweden.
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I’ve been in 10+ countries in the past eight months. I’ve booked sits for the current country I’m in from the last country I was in. I don’t know where I’ll be in three months’ time, but it’s entirely likely I’ll update my location to my next destination when I do know. If I want to travel somewhere without the responsibility of housesitting, I won’t bother to set that as my location.
All of the HOs I apply to get a good run down of where I am currently and where I plan to be, including how firm those plans are, and they’ve all been very happy to book me!
But forum user Coclico thinks I’m “misleading” them 
I suspect maybe this service might not be for you, and maybe you should look at an alternative to THS, because travel is baked into the concept.
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It’s absolutely okay if you make the thing transparent on your profile or on the first application.
For example: I am from A live in B and actually are stated in C and would like to come to D - or whatever.
I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about sitters who put their location in a place where they desire to be in the future and are not making this transparent. This is not okay.
And of course it is not because some sitters are doing it, so it is valid. I would like to know the opinion of a moderator from Trusted House sitters on this.
Based on what you said in your original post about people who live on the continent, I presume you are in the EU, and even International sitters who are actually in Europe would not be acceptable candidates either? If that is the case, it is important to state that explicitly because the latter group may think it is acceptable to apply if they are already in the area.
As for the other sitters who aren’t actually there, but list where they hope to go, this is a common practice that you really can’t do much about. If there are people who are actually lying about being in your area, that is obviously wrong and I would be annoyed at that as well. I know it must be frustrating to have applicants apply who either aren’t fully reading the listing, or are and apply anyway hoping you’ll make an exception. That is something that is just kind of unavoidable regardless of the specific criteria a HO is searching for, whether someone who lives in a certain area, a certain type of sitter,etc.
As for people listing their location as somewhere they aren’t currently staying, I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. But I do think they should make it clear they are not actually there at the moment. The few times I have done something like that, I always make it clear right at the top of my profile that I am not actually present in the country at that time.
As far as I can tell, THS is the only site that has an option for sitters to publicly list their location and I am not sure this feature is particularly useful.
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Most of us make it totally transparent in our profile and our first message, especially those that have replied to this thread. I think you have maybe just had the odd bad one. But most of us aren’t like that, we are transparent, it forms part of our profile.
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@Coclico , to know Trusted Housesitters’ policy on this topic, you would have to contact Membership Services with your question.
It may be useful for example for hosts which are looking for a last-minute sitter. They may be looking on THS who is nearby and could be immediately here, who perhaps is speaking the language, etc. Sometimes in case of urgency that might be important. Generally, I think it’s a good thing.
@Coclico If:
- I’m Australian,
- currently sitting in Singapore but
- with flights booked to the UK next week,
- with several sits already booked and looking to fill a few gaps, even at short notice,
- then heading to France for June and July
Which is the most useful location for owners to see for the month of April and May?
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If you have an urgent need for a local sitter, I suggest you find a paid service with someone you can use regularly.
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